N.Y. Assembly OKs $163 billion budget; Senate to take up bill Sunday

In this Tuesday, January 3, 2017 photo, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders share a moment following the announcement of Excelsior Scholarship program.
AP File Photo

Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, R-Troy, explains his vote against passing an emergency budget extension in place of the state budget in the Assembly Chamber at the state Capitol on Monday, April 3, 2017, in Albany, N.Y.
AP Photo/Hans Pennink

ALBANY, N.Y. >> Members of the state Assembly passed the final bills of the new $163 billion budget in a marathon session Saturday, with the state Senate ready to complete the process Sunday.

Lawmakers have been at work for almost two weeks trying to close down a budget, including the final push that saw them at the Capitol for more than 34 straight hours as the final bill was passed shortly after 5 p.m. The strain showed, with a number of lawmakers hurling invective at Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his budget plan.

“This is perhaps the biggest and the ugliest (bill) of all,” said Assembly member Fred Thiele of Long Island, referring to an everything-but-the-kitchen sink revenue omnibus bill nicknamed “The Big Ugly” by lawmakers.

The bill passed easily and the criticism rolled off Cuomo’s back. In a late night press conference Friday, Cuomo told reporters that he was considering composing his own funeral eulogy to praise his accomplishments.

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“Marriage equality, minimum wage, raise the age are going to be three of the really great lasting legacies,” Cuomo said.

In a move certain to encourage speculation about Cuomo and the 2020 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton took to Twitter Saturday to praise Cuomo’s plan to expand SUNY student aid that was adopted as part of the new budget.

“Let’s celebrate New York State getting something important done that we wanted to do nationally,” Clinton posted on Twitter in response to Cuomo’s touting the higher education plan. “A great step for progressives.”

The final version of the spending plan proposed by Cuomo back in January includes both the hike in financial aid at SUNY, which he characterized as “free tuition,” and three annual $200 SUNY tuition increases. The program is aimed at middle class students from families earning less than $125,000 and enrollees would have to meet academic goals to collect the aid. They would also be required to live and work in New York for a time after graduation, or the aid would have to be repaid.

The biggest impact is expected to be felt at SUNY community colleges, which are open admission and now have an excess capacity. Many four-year SUNY colleges and universities have become very selective in admissions because more qualified students are going to public college to avoid the huge cost of tuition at many private institutions.

Private college students would be eligible for a new $3,000 state grant, but only if that amount was matched by the college.

The plan also provides a 4 percent $1.1 billion hike in state aid to local school districts, and ends the practice of prosecuting 16 and 17 year old violent offenders as adults -- the so-called “raise the age” bill.

The plan also legalizes app-based riding hailing services Uber and Lyft, and delivers $420 million in annual tax breaks to film and TV productions done in New York. The plan also creates new tax breaks for the music and video game industries.

The New York Racing Association, the private group that runs thoroughbred racing in New York, would be privatized once again under the plan. Cuomo took over the reins of the organization a few years ago, citing concerns about the group’s finances.

Clean water projects would get an infusion of $2.5 billion for such things as improved sewer lines and replacement of septic systems that are polluting ground water.

The Legislature rejected Cuomo’s proposal for yet another hike in Department of Motor Vehicle fees, a reliable cash cow for Albany’s voracious appetite for new sources of revenue. And they rejected Cuomo’s bid to start collecting sales taxes for online purchases on such sites as eBay.

Lawmakers turned aside local government objections to a new push for mergers and passed a new “shared services” mandate requiring hearings and a vote by county leaders. Cuomo described it as “political accountability on steroids.”

That drew a rebuke from Assemblymember Steve McLaughlin (R-Melrose).

“It isn’t even political accountability on the Flintstone vitamin,” McLaughlin said. “And not even like Fred and Barney -- (it’s) like Bam-Bam.”

Sleep-deprived legislators voted in many instances without understanding what they were voting for in other than general terms.

“A lot of pretty big new $$$ in final #nybudget,” the Empire Center’s E.J. McMahon posted on Twitter, referring to billions in new spending. “But as usual, Legislature (and public) won’t see financial plan update before bills pass.”

Assembly Ways and Means Chair Denny Farrell (D-Manhattan) said the new budget totals $163 billion when all funds are counted. When federal aid for Obamacare and Hurricane Sandy relief is subtracted, the budget totals $153 billion.

Farrell also said the budget includes state government debt totaling $53.5 billion.

The Senate is due back in Albany on Sunday at 5 p.m. to provide final passage of the budget bills. The budget was due April 1, making this year the latest ever of Cuomo’s seven years as governor.

Here’s a look at the details of the budget’s biggest initiatives:

FREE TUITION

Students from families making $125,000 will be eligible for free tuition at state universities and colleges under Cuomo’s Excelsior Scholarship program, the first initiative of its kind in the country. The program won’t cover room and board, however, and students must be enrolled full time and maintain sufficient grades and residency requirements.

The initiative will be phased in over three years, with families making $100,000 or less eligible in the fall of 2017, with the threshold rising to $125,000 in 2019. About 940,000 families in the state will meet the income criteria when the program is fully implemented.

The budget also has $19 million for a new tuition award program for students at private colleges.

YOUNG CRIMINALS

Raising the age of criminal responsibility for 16- and 17-year-old offenders emerged as a top priority for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and other Democrats and also was one of the greatest sticking points for a budget. The agreement will raise the age slowly, to 17 in October 2018 and to 18 a year later.

Under the deal, young offenders will no longer be incarcerated in adult prisons and jails but will go to juvenile facilities where they can receive additional rehabilitation and treatment.

Similar reforms have been proposed in North Carolina, the only other state with such a young age of criminal responsibility.

UPSTATE UBER

After years of failed attempts, Uber and Lyft finally will be able to move into upstate cities such as Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Albany. The ride-hailing apps had been limited to the New York City area but are expected to begin service upstate 90 days after the budget is approved.

Counties and cities with a population of 100,000 or more will have the power to opt out, though many upstate mayors already have gone on record supporting ride-hailing.

TAXES

OTHER PROVISIONS

The budget also includes $200 million to fight heroin and opioid addiction, $2.5 billion to protect water quality and upgrade the state’s aging water and sewer systems and the approval of $2.5 billion to address homelessness and the shortage of affordable housing. It also has an affordable housing tax credit for New York City developers and increases school funding by $1.1 billion to $25.8 billion overall.

WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED

Tighter campaign finance laws, term limits for lawmakers and new rules restricting outside income were left out of the budget again this year. Following widespread complaints from last year’s elections, Cuomo proposed changes, including early voting and automatic registration, but those weren’t included in the final agreement either.

Associated Press writers Anna Gronewold and David Klepper contributed to this report.